


unfold your own myth

by blommowitch



Category: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, I'm gay for Violet Liu and so is Arkady, arkady is officially Too Gay To Function, rumi is gaysian culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 07:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14397639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blommowitch/pseuds/blommowitch
Summary: Takes place shortly after the latest episode. The AC isn't working, Violet Liu is wearing a crop top, and Arkady Patel isn't sure which one of these is affecting her brain function more.





	unfold your own myth

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gay and so is Arkady... please leave a review!! give me the validation!! I'm gay!!
> 
> also the amazing Marina made fanart of Arkady from my fic!! check it out it's AMAZING https://marina-does-things.tumblr.com/post/173225717206/arkady-with-the-rumi-tattoo-from-blommowitchs

It’s moments like these when Arkady’s brain just kind of… shorts out. It’s like the time Kreijh pulled a 12 hour shift and mixed four energy drinks with a pot of espresso. There are too many impressions and Arkady mostly wants to lie down - but she can’t lie down. She’s a retrieval specialist, a fighter, who never gives up and who can always think her way out a problem. This problem, however, is a bit more difficult to resolve. The problem is that Violet Liu is wearing a crop top.

Okay, so it’s not entirely Arkady’s fault that she reacts like this. The day has involved being chased by government agents for several hours, Kreijh pulling off some truly _spectacular_ flying stunts, and the AC being broken mid-flight. Sana has been in the engine room trying to make the damn thing work again for the last hour, and Kreijh, Brian and Arkady have retreated to the kitchen. Kreijh is currently snoring so loudly they’re almost drowning out the sound of Sana swearing, and Brian’s head is pillowed on their chest, his brown hair ruffling slightly every time Kreijh lets out another rumbling snore. Their hands are intertwined, brown intermingling with purple, and it’s almost enough to make Arkady believe in love, if “love” was something she thought about regularly. It’s not. Well, until very recently. Until, say, five minutes ago. Arkady can see Violet’s soft brown stomach under the bright blue top from where she’s sitting, and her neck where the black hair is cut close, and she kinda wants to see what would happen if she put her arms around Violet’s stomach and breathed in the scent of her hair -

“Hey, Arkady, do you want some more tea? Because honestly, this mint thing was delicious!” Violet’s bright voice pierces through Arkady’s foggy brain. Violet is holding her cup of tea in one hand and the teapot in the other.

“Sure, why not? Anything to get my mind off this heat.” Arkady stretches out her hand and holds out her cup, and a comfortable silence begins as Violet slowly pours the boiling water. As soon as the biologist stops pouring and sits down at the kitchen table, the silence stops being comfortable. Not only is the heat permeating everything, but Violet is still wearing a crop top and Arkady still has that urge to… to… Wrenching her brain away from that train of thought takes effort, and the time it takes to think of other things is time where all that can be heard is Kreijh snoring and Sana swearing. Arkady can see Violet trying to come up with something to say, and is about to interrupt her (to say that Violet doesn’t have an obligation to talk to the person she saw murder someone) when Violet bursts out with: “Is that a quote from Rumi you have tattooed on your left arm?”

It’s moments like these that Arkady Patel doesn’t understand Violet Liu. She was left for dead, lied to, then saved by the very same liars, and now she’s stuck on a ship with smugglers and criminals, as well as a member of an alien race that tried to exterminate her species, with no way back. And yet she’s already fast friends with Brian and Kreijh, has set up a medical emergency room, and, even weirder, actually wants to talk to the person who lied to her.

“Uh, yeah, actually. How did you know?” Arkady pulls up her t-shirt to see for herself the words winding around her left bicep. Weirdly enough, Violet starts blushing. And when she blushes her neck turns an even darker brown. Huh. Arkady files that away for later, but continues: “He’s one of my favourite poets, actually. There’s something so comforting about the fact that he wrote what he wrote hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and his poetry lived on because it was still relatable.” Like every brown gay kid since the 1400’s, Arkady had devoured Rumi as soon as she could read. Violet nods, and says:

“Exactly! I, uh, did a project on it when I was at Harmony. 'Early Pre-Crisis folklore' mentions Rumi as one of the main Sufi poets, and when I was writing the essay I just kind of fell in love with how he speaks to and about God. And Shams.” Violet pulls a hand through her hair, and continues: “I mean, isn’t it just amazing how God, to Rumi, is almost the same thing as the goodness of humanity? Our potential to be amazing and kind and good? And then Shams becomes the same thing, but for Rumi himself?” Great. Just what Arkady needs. Violet has short hair, wears a crop top, and _likes Rumi_. What’s next? Is there a list somewhere in the universe of everything Arkady is attracted to, and Violet has come across it somehow?

“I’ve… never thought of that. I’ve been carrying a book of his poetry with me since, well, always, but I haven’t exactly had an opportunity to study Rumi in an academic setting or whatever. As you know.” She tries to smile in a self-deprecating kind of way, but Arkady has never been great at smiling, and she suspects Violet is about look on her with pity. She drops the smile.

Kreijh suddenly gives an extra large snore, and both Violet and Arkady jump slightly. Violet smiles as she looks at Brian, who’s wearing a ratty white, blue and pink striped shirt, and Kreijh, who’s matching their purple skin with a fantastic bright orange t-shirt that says “KISS THE PILOT”. Arkady doesn’t smile, but her eyes might soften just a tiny bit. She nearly jumps out of her skin as Violet places her hand around the tattoo and leans in. Violet’s hand is warm, and her eyes are really brown, and the crop top looks great on her, and this is too much for Arkady’s brain to handle _._ Violet traces the letters with her fingers and says: “It’s a really great quote. It’s very… you.” She leans back, smiles, and Arkady covers her fingers with her own, following the letters.

 

_Forget safety. Be notorious._

 


End file.
